I watched it. I think it was done very well (same opinion I had about most of the season 1 episodes last summer) and gave lots of food-for-thought. My opinion hasn't swayed one bit... even after watching it. I was glad to see how Paty & Rigoberto had been living in Mexico and how Rigoberto's family is still living there. That was a very human side of things. My biggest disappointment was the Frank seemed to really have second thoughts and started wavering in his opinion. I hope he is successful in getting issues addressed thru our elected representatives. Frank is a unique position, having come to this country from Cuba but having done it legally. I think this episode was well done and I was hoping for more discussion here on FORT. Perhaps the problem is this show is not in the active list

I use Yahoo TV listings. Show is on Wednesday's at 9pmCDT/10pmEDT, repeats an hour and five minutes later, then repeats on Sunday at 11:06pm/12:06pm, and Monday at 10pm/11pm. If you're in a different time zone, I guess you'll have to figure it out.

I thought it was good. I didn't think it was bad at all that Frank started to rethink his attitudes. He was taken aback at the conditions in which the Gonzalez family lives in US -- something like 520 sq feet, one bedroom, for a family of seven. Then he saw what they left in Mexico, which made their apartment in East LA look practically palatial. He started to put himself in their shoes (if they had shoes when in Mexico).

So, if we put ourselves in their shoes, the logical question is what would YOU do? Would you stay legally in the country you were unfortunate enough to be born in, or would you take whatever chance you could get for a better life for your children? Back in our shoes, what do WE want them to do? Stay there and starve to death, preferably without letting us know about the appalling conditions so that we aren't disturbed? If the answer to that is NO, then WHAT DO WE WANT THEM TO DO? If YES, how do you justify that morally? I can't.

I've been unable to ascertain exactly when Frank's family left Cuba, but I believe it quite possible that they left illegally, under the laws of their native country. So I am left wondering, if he's so gung-ho on legality, why was it okay for his family to break the laws of their country, if in fact that's what happened. If it was legal, why then couldn't his parents go back to see their parents, left behind in Cuba? Because they left illegally and if they returned, they wouldn't be allowed out again? Sounded like it to me, but if anyone else gleaned more information, please post it.

I don't know what the answer is. Just opening the borders and allowing everyone in would be very hard on this country (though I don't believe it would destroy us). But forcing them to stay there and starve to death in conditions we wouldn't force onto our dogs doesn't seem the right answer either. What of the plaque affixed to that symbol of America, Lady Liberty? Do we reject this?
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me.
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"

I don't understand WHY the people who are so against illegal immigration are not screaming and hollering and demanding that the citizens of the US that hire illegals are held to account. That would be a far surer way of keeping out illegal aliens. If there are no jobs, they wouldn't risk their lives crossing waterless desert to get here. But oh, that would be "bad for bidness", and we can't have THAT can we? Except, isn't that the argument about why illegal aliens shouldn't be here, because they take jobs? How can you have it both ways?

As Rigoberto's brother expressed, they didn't even want to leave Mexico, but felt they had no choice, if they wanted to live. Most of them would like to stay in Mexico, if they could just make a living. Just who are the US citizens who have been done out of jobs by illegal aliens? Paty couldn't work at all; Rigoberto had to take whatever pick-up handyman jobs he could get. Who were they taking jobs from?

I disagree with Bush on virtually everything, but I can't understand why a guest worker program is so vilified. If illegal aliens want to come here to do jobs no American wants to do and then go home, why is that bad? Someone want to attempt to explain that one?

My great-grandparents on one side were immigrants, and my grandparents on the other. They were fortunate to be born in a time before immigration quotas, though not a time free of bigotry and prejudice (has there ever been such a time?). They found conditions in their native lands to be such that they could not get ahead, and so, they immigrated to the land of opportunity. I'm ashamed that most of their descendants have the attitude of "I've got mine, to hell with you!"

Frank's father worked for an american sugar company in Cuba at the time of the revolution. He was legally allowed to bring his family to the US because he had the job with the american company. This is what I recall being stated. It's my understanding that Cuba does not allow (former?) cuban citizens to come and go therefore that would be why his parents weren't allowed to go back. Also, (and I'm fuzzy here) I don't believe the US recognizes Cuba so I believe there is (was for a long time until recently?) no direct travel between the US and Cuba... one would have to go from the US to another country and then from the other country to Cuba. It's quite possible that Cuba picks and chooses who they let into their country in terms of tourist visas. I'm not authority so if anyone can set me straight that would be wonderful. But in all the years that Castro has been in power travel to/from Cuba has been anything but a straightforward endeavor. Okay now that I've started on this topic, I did a bit of searching and came across this website... http://www.ibike.org/cuba/ofac/cuba-travelto.htm and it says the following... Note: As of June 30, 2004, the U.S. government further tightened travel restriction to Cuba so it is now virtually impossible for people under their jurisdiction to get first-hand information on conditions on the island or to visit members of their family who live their. The government of Cuba imposes virtually no restrictions on educational, tourist, or family visits to the island.

Most everybody in the world, except Cuban-born-non-Cuban citizens, and ANYBODY under United States jurisdiction, can travel to and from Cuba freely. If you are a Cuban-born non-Cuban citizen, you will need to apply for a visa at a Cuban Embassy. For all other North American and EEC citizens, traveling to Cuba as short-term visitors, you need a passport and the tourist cards that is issued with your plane ticket to Cuba. Cuba welcomes non-Cuban born U.S. tourists with no red tape.

For anybody under United States jurisdiction there is one additional level of complexity. The U.S. has a partial embargo of trade with Cuba. The embargo is enforced by the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) as part of their work as a lead agency against terrorism (1/6th of their anti-terrorism work is focused at going after Americans who visit Cuba.) In conjunction with this, OFAC is increasingly limiting people opportunities to learn about Cuba. For the official word on US policies to http://www.ustreas.gov/ofac. To learn about travel sanctions for Cuba search for "travel transactions Cuba". For general information on sanctions, click on the "Sanctions Program" link. Here is the gist of what is said on travel to Cuba:

It is legal for Americans to go to Cuba.
It is illegal for American to have transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in Cuba under most circumstances.
It is legal for American to have transactions (spend money or receive gifts) in Cuba if they have a "license", but the government is arbitrary about how it interprets its rule and who it issues licenses to.